Thursday, 25 July 2013

Located
very close to my office in Whitefield, one evening I met with the members of
the CAL Bloggers Table at ‘Linx’. ‘Linx’ is a multi-cuisine restaurant housed
in Premier Inn; a chain of hotels from UK. On arriving here, I learnt that they
housed not only ‘Linx’ but also a Lounge Bar 87. It was my first visit to
‘Linx’ and being late rushed to the table where everyone were seated to join them for an evening of unexpected.

Menu

Having
been late in joining the members on the table who were all set with their
drinks, I was almost immediately offered both the drinks and the food menu. The
drinks menu comprised no extra-ordinary and fancy listings of beverages but a
limited and decent listing of hot and cold, alcoholic and non-alcoholic. Likewise,
the food menu wasn’t extensive too but had a sufficient listing of Indian,
Chinese, Italian and Continental.

What we ate:

Folks on my table seemed to enjoy the martinis, margaritas, mojitos, long
island ice teas and mocktails in the company of a traditional and rustic
accompaniment - masala peanuts.

Shortly, followed the appetizers we had called for. The non-vegetarians
appetizers included chefs recommendation ‘Charminar Seekh Kebab’ and the
classic preperation of crispy threaded chicken. I was a vegetarian on this day
and didn’t eat them both (Poor me L).

Crispy threaded chicken was a slice of marinated chicken strip fried in a
casing of pan cake threads. This was served with a perfect accompaniment of hot
garlic sauce. The charminar seekh kebab was a preperation of mutton half cooked
in tandoor, slit in between, stuffed with mint infused yoghurt and finally
fried. Both the dishes were relished by the non-vegetarians. But to me, the
Charminar seekh kebab was fragrant enough to pull me back to Linx.

On the vegetarian front it was Paneer Tikka and golden fried basket. The
paneer itself was slightly hard and the big cubes of it took away the flavor of
the marination. The crowd pleaser was golden fried basket which was wonton
baskets filled with tempered corn and served with it was a tangy coriander
syrup. I ate it just like pani puri - pouring atleast a spoonful of the syrup
into the basket and having it in a go.

We had a child on the table too. He made a meal of golden fried crispy
french fries and cheese toast that was mouth watering to look at.

In the mains, vegetarians called for Dal Maharani - black dal, Miloni
Tarkari, veg chili garlic noodles and stir fried chinese veggies. What I
enjoyed the most was black dal with hot Indian breads and the chili garlic
noodles with the yummy crispy stir fried veggies.

There was plenty for the non-vegetarians on our table not only in terms of
the dishes but also cuisines. Mutton Roganjosh, hot rotis, mutton dum biryani,
Grilled fish in lemon butter sauce, Farfalle in cream sauce, egg fried rice and
stir fried minced chicken. I could see everyone enjoy digging into each of
these dishes. I wish I had eaten it all to say more about it.

For desserts, my pick was fried ice cream. This was presented to us in a
Martini glass with honey floating at the bottom of the glass. The dessert was nice,
warm and crispy on the outside and cold on the inside; honey floating at the bottom
of the glass adding a nice flavor.

For more food pictures from this dinner, visit the photo albums on my Facebook page Review Of Restaurants

Verdict:

The food
tasted good, be it Indian, continental or Chinese. The portions of the appetizers
were good to be shared while the mains are structured such that a portion is
sufficient for one. Though, with a couple of starters, Indian and Chinese mains
can be shared between two. For those focusing on the mains can go with the option
called ‘Make It Large’ which you will see at the end of the mains section. With
this, the portions served are larger and can easily be shared to make a meal
from it.

I went to
Linx with absolutely no expectations and was completely bowled over by the
overall experience. What bowled me over was the unexpectedly relaxed and
comforting ambiance, the unpretentious food and simple beverage concoctions.
While there are many hotels and restaurants in Whitefield, I know exactly now where
I must head to for a good a la carte lunch or dinner along with a couple of
rounds of drinks. Conversing with the restaurant manager, I also learnt that
Costa Coffee is owned by the same group of companies that own Premier Inn. So
no prices for guessing, Costa Coffee kiosk is available and the same can
enjoyed at Premier Inn.

An average
meal for 2 which includes an appetizer to share, 2 mains and a dessert will
cost around Rs. 1000 plus taxes and charges.

Quick Tips:

If you are
living in Whitefield, look no further. Linx @ Premier Inn is a fantastic place
to dine at. You are sure to enjoy a really nice meal without having to travel
to other parts of Bangalore in a look for some a-la carte options.

Tuesday, 16 July 2013

A road
stretching 2500 kilometers has been of great significance in the Indian
history. What is this road called? Where does it run through?

The answer
to this is Grand Trunk Road (GTR) running from Bangladesh, then Kolkata in West Bengal, in the
northwest direction through a couple of Indian states, into Rawalpindi and
Peshawar in Pakistan and ending at Kabul in Afghanistan.

Reminded
of school, the history text book does take us through (1) how this road
developed, evolved and expanded starting from the Maurya dynasty, to the
British Empire with all the dynasties and empires in between. (2) How its
significance grew with every passing empire; be it for trade, invasions,
transportation etc. While all this was covered in good depth, what remains
uncovered in these books is; at the minimum a reference of the rich culinary
extravagance this route has to offer.

No
worries, I’m here to share my experience from what I savored when I travelled
across this route. Not literally, a couple of bloggers including me were
invited to My Place @ Movenpick Hotel & Spa Bangalore to experience the
‘Grand Trunk Road Culinary Trail’. This
is a festival on at ‘My Place’ up to Sunday, 21st July.

Menu:

As a part
of this festival, the buffet spread at ‘My Place’ is expansive and covers
signature and symbolic dishes starting with West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi
and Punjab in India and then runs into the north-west frontier to include
delicacies from Pakistan and Afghanistan. Yes, all of this in the form of
salads, appetizers, mains and desserts amalgamating under one single roof at
Movenpick Hotel & Spa Bangalore.

To achieve
this culinary feast, Executive Chef Thomas Joseph travelled a part of the GTR
in search of local chefs who would also bring in authenticity to the
preparations. The team comprised of both in-house and visiting chefs. When
introduced to them, we were pleasantly surprised to see that the visiting team
mainly comprised of women to which another secret was let out, “They are home
chefs who only entered a big or commercial kitchen a couple of weeks ago for
the first time; that too after a lot of convincing.”

What more?
Let’s go through what we ate.

What we ate:

We started
off with an assortment of kebabs. Non-vegetarians had Ghutwa Kebab – a flavorful
mutton kebab finely minced to bring it to a paste like consistency and fried, Macchi
ka Kebab – cubes of fish mildly spiced and cooked in a tandoor to perfect
flakiness and the delicious and hot samosas. They were no ordinary samosas but
something, the name of which is sufficient to get many mouths watering –
‘Mutton Keema Samosa’.

On the
vegetarian front, it was ‘Anjeer Mawe ki tikki’, ‘Bengali Begoon Bhaja’ and
Punjab’s very own ‘Bhutta kebab’. What intrigued me was the very different
Anjeer mawe ki tikki. The name gives a clear hint, “This kebab will be sweet”.
And sweet it was. This did not appeal to most palates but I liked the
preparation and enjoyed it with a contrasting flavor of mint chutney. The
Begoon Bhaja was crispy on the outside with the inside being mushy and moist. A
very simple yet a fabulous dish made live on request.

GTR runs
through most of North Indian states and not having chaat on buffet would be
disastrous. This cannot happen at Movenpick. My guest and I, in true street
style indulged in a round of gol gappas. Both of us being avid lovers of
non-vegetarian food retained our focus on the main course and moved on.

It was a
meaty affair, Haleem – Lucknow style was on the spread. I didn’t like this
much. Personally, the Hyderabadi version of the haleem is the only format that
appeals to my palate. However, the buffet also had a delicious Lucknowi style
ghost biryani which was no – nonsense and an absolute meat lovers delight. The
Delhi style Mutton do pyaza was ‘bang on’ on flavors and tenderness of the
mutton.

There was
also Macher Jol; a Bengali fish preparation which tasted very different due to
the use of mustard oil in its making. It took me a couple of bites to really
enjoy these flavors. Then there was also, 'Chooza Khas Makhani' (State: Punjab)
and 'Murgh Kari' from Pakistan. Unlike the usual makhani dishes, the 'Chooza Khas Makhani' was not sweet but has a unique and wonderful flavoring coming from the
use of anise and some more ingredients. This was a universal winner on our
table. Murgh Kari was another fabulous preparation. Mildly spiced and packed
with a lot of flavor. All main course
gravies were enjoyed with hot Indian breads that were served hot on our table.

With
literally no appetite left to give vegetarian dishes a shot, I just looked
through the arrangement to see what I had missed from the vegetarian section. A
look and I wished I had tried at least a couple which included the classic
Pindi Channa masala and the Karela dish.

I like
desserts but it is not something for which I will usually give up or compromise
on the meal. So for me it was a piece of delicious gulab jamoon, Sandesh,
chilled phirni, Qubani ka mitha and blueberry something. The desserts I had
were all good and did make a good end to a fabulous meal.

For more food pictures from this dinner, visit the photo albums on my FaceBook page Review Of Restaurants

Verdict:

Overall,
the food at this festival is fabulous. What takes this festival to another high
is a wonderful and fascinating ‘Desi’ cocktails menu especially concocted for
this Grand Trunk Road Festival. Here’s a
very interesting range of cocktails which we sampled - Piru Pyala, Imli Mojito,
Kala Khatta Diaquiri and Sharabi Nariyal. Of these, Piru Pyala - a tequila
based drink with guava juice, spices and black salt was a clear favorite
closely followed by the Imli Mojito.

The GRT
festival is on till the 21st of July. This special buffet is
available only for dinners and is priced at Rs. 1200 plus taxes and charges
(Alcohol extra). There is enough the spread to savor for both vegetarians and
non-vegetarians.

Valet
Parking is available.

Quick Tips:

Grand
Trunk Road Culinary Trail culminates on 21st July with a Sunday
brunch. If you are unable to make it for a relaxed evening dinner; this Sunday
Brunch will be an exciting affair to be a part off.

Friday, 12 July 2013

Last year,
around the same time Sheraton, Bangalore hosted a Japanese festival. OK, let’s
be precise, it was a Sushi festival. And now; ‘Feast’ a multi-cuisine
restaurant at Sheraton, Bangalore plays host to yet another Japanese food
festival. On till the 14th of July, Chef Kyoji Endo from Westin,
Tokyo is here to take you through the culinary delights from the ‘land of the
rising sun – Japan’. An invite came my way for this event and it took me no
time to say a ‘Yes’.

Menu:

Since it
is Japanese food fest, a section of the buffet otherwise shared between the
South East Asian countries has been solely dedicated to Chef Kyoji Endo’s
creations of his homeland. This spread included specialties like sushi,
sashimi, miso, udon, green tea ice cream and not to forget something Chef Kyoji
Endo is a specialist at – Tempura preparations. All of this was accompanied by
a magnanimous spread of food and desserts representing various cuisines of the
world. So aptly named is this restaurant!!! ‘Feast – world of flavors’

What we ate:

Of course!
It was a Japanese fest and that’s exactly what we kick started our meal with.
My companion seemed very fascinated with the concept of customizing her own
soup. Chef Kyoji Edno helped her with the customization. The soup was served
cold in a broth made of miso, dashi and more. Ingredients include udon noodles,
topped with tofu, nori, finely chopped scallions and some other toppings. This
was a winner since when we dug into it.

My pick was the miso - egg drop soup that was served hot. This
soup was really light in consistency, the flavors well balanced appealed to my
senses. I remember having not enjoyed this soup much at another Japanese
restaurant a couple of months ago. But here, I loved it.

Moving on
- next on the radar was tempura and sushi. I savored the non – vegetarian
version of both while my partner in crime – a vegetarian went with the
vegetarian options. Both tempura and sushi were served plated on our table. The
tempura was the first to arrive. One look at it and I could say, “The batter
must be really light and crunchy”. True to my imagination, the batter was
light, crisp, and non-greasy. The shrimp was perfectly cooked and retained its
flavor, moisture and softness.

The veg
tempura was stuffed with chunks of assorted veggies and was also equally
enjoyed. What took the whole tempura experience up a notch for us were green
tea salt and chili salt; the unique accompaniments prepared by the visiting
chef.

The sushi
followed soon. The buffet displays just the rolls format broadly known as Maki
sushi. On enquiring, we were told, nigiri and sashimi was on offer too. The reason
for it not being present on the buffet display was just to maintain the
freshness factor. What came to my table was a platter of sushi, sashimi and
nigiri. While I love maki sushi rolls, it was the salmon nigiri that stole the
limelight for me. There was California roll for the vegetarians which had a crispy
cucumber as the filling. I did dig into this and loved it too.

The
Japanese section of the buffet also had fried pork (Ton Katsu), whitefish in a
vinegar sauce, potatoes in teriyaki sauce and fried tofu. The whitefish in
vinegar sauce was cooked but served cold; traditionally the way it is eaten and
was good in flavor but the fish seemed a tad bit hard and dry. ‘Potatoes in
teriyaki sauce’ was a nice preparation with sweetness felt from both potato and
the teriyaki sauce.

Whitefish in Vinegar Sauce

At a
Japanese dinner one would definitely expect to dig into a scoop of green tea
ice cream. Though not displayed on the buffet, this in-house creation is
brought to the table. The ice cream had a mild flavor of green tea but was one
dessert we relished.

In between
all this, we also paid visit to the other sections of the buffet. To show you
the magnitude of the spread Sheraton has on offer here is a quick pictorial
representation:

Indian Non-Vegetarian Fare: Meen Pollichattu, Chicken Biryani & a gravy I do not recollect

This is
not all; the buffet also hosted a vast spread of Italian and American food as
well. Not to mention, a fantastic array of desserts Indian and international.

For more food pictures from this dinner, visit the photo albums on
my FaceBook page Review
Of Restaurants

Verdict:

The
Japanese food was nice especially the soups and the tempura. I’d say, “If looking
for Japanese food and you are in the vicinity – Feast is the place.” What
better? You also get to experience the whole range of spread offered on the
buffet.

True to
its name - ‘Feast – World of flavors’; we got to experience not just the
Japanese fest but also a diverse range of cuisines from across the world all
under one roof. The dinner buffet priced at Rs. 1345 ++ is absolutely worth a
splurge. The ambiance during the day is filled with a lot of natural light and
at nights the warm lighting sets the mood for a great evening ahead. On the
service front, I appreciate the attention the staff gives to every table to
ensure that the diners’ requests are met in the best of their capacity.

Feast at
Sheraton, also offers a lunch buffet which is priced at Rs. 1195 plus applicable
taxes and charges.

Thursday, 4 July 2013

‘Live at
Aloft Hotels’ may be a very familiar phrase to a lot of travelers and locals
who have visited Aloft Hotels in the United States. It is an event that acts as
a platform to showcase the hottest upcoming artists and bands once every week
at their signature W XYZ Bar across Aloft Hotels in the United States.

After a
very impressive response in the United States; on 28th June, 2013,
this highly successful event ‘Live at Aloft Hotels’ was launched at Aloft, Bangalore.
This is among the four Aloft hotels in the whole of Asia-Pacific to host this
signature series of live music performances.

It lives
by the concept of mix, meet and mingle over drinks, music and events. Taking
cue from this, here are a few aspects that I’ll touch upon beginning with
‘events’.

Event - 'Live at Aloft Hotels'

The
opening act on 28th June was a performance by ‘Little Wings’ with
Herbert Paul on the guitar and vocals, Gerard Roy on bass and Raj Sampath on
drums. Their music seemed to be heavily influenced by Jimi Hendrix, Eric
Clapton and more. Every week, come Friday and you will see a different band
playing different genres of music.

As for
‘Little Wings’; I must say, “The band did a good job performing live and to
second my view was my guest who accompanied me to this launch event.”

Drinks and Eats

W XYZ
serves a limited but interesting selection of cocktails along with a good
listing of regular alcoholic beverages, and wines by either bottle or glass.
The menu also comprises of a selection of both cold and hot appetizers in both
vegetarian and non - vegetarian.

Squid Rings

Veg. Sushi

My
personal pick from the mixes was the mojito – made strong on request to my
liking, the Fiji Lychee cocktail and a name I do not recollect but the mix
contained whiskey, orange juice and tonic water.

Music and Ambiance

W XYZ bar
welcomes its guests with vibrant interiors and a wonderful bar counter. You can
either choose to sit by the bar, couches, comfortable chairs or sofas. At the
bar, you also get to enjoy some flare maneuvers by the bartender.

The music
here is well modulated and does not interfere with conversations being made
allowing you to enjoy the music, conversation, drinks and food in parallel.

Offers

There is no entry fee or cover charge for this event. Instead, it can be enjoyed in the company of some great offers. The current promotion
fetches you a buy 1 get 1 on the drinks and a portion of appetizer too is
served on the house.

Highlights

Event: Live at Aloft Hotels

Performances: Upcoming music bands and artists

When: Every Friday, 7PM to 10PM @ W XYZ Bar

Where: Aloft Hotels, Whitefield, Bangalore

Entry: No cover charge / No entry fee

Offers:
Buy One Get one on beverages + a complimentary portion of appetizer

Tuesday, 2 July 2013

One Sunday night, as we drove past M.G. road; we
wondered which restaurant to visit for some good North India food. As we
juggled between various options, my mind traced back to the amazing tandoori
gobi (starter) and palak rice I had eaten one afternoon with 2 of my friends at
Banjara restaurant - a part of the Gold Finch property. This is how; we decided
upon where we would be dining that night.

Menu:

The menu
comprised of authentic North Indian delicacies. The listing is well split
between the vegetarian and non vegetarian dishes.

What we ate:

Being just 3 of us, we knew one starter, one
main course and breads would be all we’d need. So it was murg afgani tikka for
starters, Paneer khurchan was our preference for main course which was
accompanied by a couple of laccha parathas and butter naan.

We were served roasted papad and mint chutney to
munch while to food was being prepared to be served to us. For a change, fresh
lime soda was the preferred drink.
by a c� �
e o �I �I parathas and butter naan.

As requested by us, all food arrived at once. Murg
afgani tikka was succulent and moist and did not need accompaniment to go along
with. The meat was cooked to perfection. Paneer khurchan was rich, creamy and
flavorful gravy with chunks of paneer drowned in it. Like the rest of the food,
the parathas and butter naan too were served hot. The paratha was nice and
flaky while the butter naan was really soft and loaded with butter. Both these
breads were the perfect accompaniment to the delicious paneer.

Murgh Afgani Tikka (Right)

Paneer Khurchan

Desserts
were nowhere yet on our minds; instead we had the same dish that actually
brought us here.. YES - Palak rice. As expected, this came really hot and
tasted heavenly. The creamy texture of the spinach gravy and rice left our
taste buds so enticed that we were happy to take home the unfinished portion.

Verdict:

We were
happy with the hospitality. The food was served hot, the staff was polite and
gentle in greeting diners, they knew the menu well, and service was swift and
efficient. While the service was great, one place where I would strike off a
point is; poor lighting in the section we sat.

Valet
parking is available which saves diners from the struggle of finding parking
space for themselves which otherwise is a big task on this busy road.

Rs. 1200
will be the cost of an average meal for 2 here which includes with a couple of
non alcoholic drinks, a starter, a main, a couple of breads and rice to share.
Taxes and other charges are not a part of the average meal cost.